INDIAN SCHOOL MUSCAT

SENIOR SECTION

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
CLASS IX

The Adventures of Toto

Date:

SUMMARY

This story is about the admiration of the grandfather of the narrator and his liking for
animals. He bought a baby monkey from a tonga - driver and named him Toto.

He wanted Toto because he didn’t have a monkey. He already possessed a tortoise, a

pair of rabbits, a tame squirrel and a goat. With the coming of Toto’ his mini zoo was
transformed into a real zoo. Toto’s presence was kept top secret as grandmother
abhorred animals.

Toto was kept in a little closet which opened into the narrator’s room. Toto tore off
the narrator’s school blazer. When kept in the zoo, he started troubling other animals.

One day, grandfather had to go to Saharanpur to collect his pension. He took Toto
along with him because he was a great menace to be left there, troubling other animals.
Toto was ultimately accepted by the family. He was left in the stable to stay with
Nana, the family donkey but even Nana soon got fed up of Toto.

One day, Toto nearly boiled himself alive by jumping into the large kitchen kettle that
had been left on the fire to boil for tea. It was grandmother who came to his rescue
and saved him. As days passed by, Toto’s pernicious activities did not lessen.

Therefore, ultimately grandfather sold Toto back to the tonga- driver and heaved a
sigh of relief.

I. Read the extracts below and answer the questions that follow:

A. ‘Toto was a pretty monkey. His bright eyes sparkled with mischief beneath
deep-set eyebrows and his teeth, which were very often displayed in a smile that

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frightened the life out of elderly Anglo- Indian ladies. But his hands looked dried–up
as though they had been pickled in the sun for many years.’

i. Who was Toto? Where had he been bought from?

ii. How did people react to his display of pearly white teeth?

iii. Give a synonym for the word ‘display’.

B. ‘Grandfather gave Nana a slap across her haunches and she jerked back dragging Toto
with her.

i. Who is Nana? What was her reaction to grandfather’s slap?

ii. Why did Nana drag Toto with her?

iii. Find the antonym of ‘loosened’ from the above lines.

II. Answer the following questions in short:

i. How was grandfather’s trip to Saharanpur marred? What had he done to convince
the ticket-collector?
ii. What was considered a good treat by Toto on cold winter evenings? What would
hurt his feelings?
iii. Grandfather had to return his pet back. Justify this action.
iv. Describe how Toto had nearly boiled himself once.
III. Answer the following questions in 120-150 words:

i. “Toto was not the sort of pet we could keep for long.” Explain with examples from
the text.

ii. What things should be kept in mind, while keeping pets at home?

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